[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 10, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H2178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   THE SOUTHERN BORDER IS NOT SECURE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Kustoff) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KUSTOFF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak in support of H.R. 
2, which is the Secure the Border Act.
  Everyone knows that the southern border is not secure. At the start 
of his Presidency, Joe Biden halted construction of the border wall, 
essentially prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement from doing 
its job to keep our country safe.
  And took steps to end the Migrant Protection Protocols as well as 
other enforcement policies.
  President Biden's open border policies have led to the humanitarian 
and national security crisis at our southern border today. Since Joe 
Biden took office, there have been over 5 million illegal border 
crossings at the southern border. Customs and Border Protection 
officers have seized over 14,000 pounds of deadly fentanyl that have 
come across our southern border. For perspective, that is enough 
fentanyl to kill every single American.
  Furthermore, in just the first 6 months of this fiscal year, 2023, 
the names of 80 people who appear on the terrorist watch list were 
stopped trying to cross the southern border.

  It is about to get much worse, because tomorrow, title 42, one of our 
most powerful tools to quickly expel illegal immigrants, will expire. 
Again, that happens tomorrow.
  Title 42 is a public health order that allows migrants, who would 
otherwise be held in processing facilities, to be quickly expelled due 
to a risk of COVID-19 transmission.
  The end of title 42 is expected to incentivize a worsening influx of 
illegal migrants. Border Patrol officials at our border are already 
seeing an unprecedented surge at our southern border with over 26,000 
migrant apprehensions in just 72 hours.
  For more than 2 years, President Biden and his administration have 
ignored the crisis. I can tell you that House Republicans have listened 
to the concerns of Americans and are working on solutions to the 
crisis. In our Commitment to America, we promised to create a Nation 
that is safe.
  We are going to vote soon on the Secure the Border Act, to make sure 
that our southern border is, in fact, secure and to combat illegal 
immigration.
  Just a few things that our Secure the Border Act will do:
  Number 1, it will force the administration to restart construction of 
the border wall.

                              {time}  1015

  It will deploy technology to the southern and northern border. It 
will increase the number of Border Patrol agents, and it will increase 
their pay. It will require transparency regarding illegal crossings 
from the Department of Homeland Security. It will strengthen our 
current law to protect unaccompanied children from human trafficking. 
It will end catch and release. It will end the abuse of executive 
immigration authority. It will strengthen and streamline the asylum 
process.
  This bill, the Secure the Border Act, fulfills our promise to the 
American people to offer solutions to a crisis that affects not just 
cities and States along the border but every city and every State in 
this Nation.
  Madam Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to support this 
important piece of legislation.

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